Time for our final award here at the OC. Without any further ado, let’s take it home…and I’ll have a recap of all of our awards at the end of this piece.
AL MVP
1) Jose Bautista (62 points, 11 first place votes)
2) Adrian Gonzalez (44 points, two first place votes)
3) Curtis Granderson (38 points)
4) Ben Zobrist (16 points)
5) Miguel Cabrera (7 points)
6) Jacoby Ellsbury (7 points)
7) Paul Konerko (6 points)
8) Justin Verlander (5 points)
9) Asdrubal Cabrera (2 points)
10) Alex Gordon (2 points)
11) Dustin Pedroia (1 point)
12) Ian Kinsler (1 point)
13) Jhonny Peralta (1 point)
14) Jered Weaver (1 point)
Jose Bautista is the run-away choice for AL MVP with good measure. He’s got a league leading 31 homers, an insane .702 slugging percentage, 20 more walks than strikeouts, and a WAR of 6.6 that is almost as much as the 6.9 mark he put up last season. I don’t know what else I can really say about Bautista aside from the fact that he is an absolute BEAST, and deserves this honor.
The thing about Bautista’s season is that while it’s amazing, the Blue Jays are in a distant fourth in the AL East. Bautista is the slam dunk MVP, but I’m afraid his team’s place in the standings could kill what he’s doing. If that happens, Adrian Gonzalez could be the beneficiary. Gonzalez leads the league with a .354 batting average, after having escaped the unfriendly confines of Petco Park. He’s also been fantastic defensively at first. But his season overall pales in comparison to Bautista’s.
Curtis Granderson is another guy who could benefit from Toronto’s struggles. Granderson has absolutely awakened in New York after a disappointing first season in the Big Apple. He’s already got 25 homers, and should easily surpass his career high of 30. With his 15 steals, Granderson has an outside shot at a 30/30 season, just like several in the NL that made our MVP ballot.
Ben Zobrist is having another good year after a down year offensively last season, and has nicely rebounded. But the thing about Zobrist is that his candidacy rests a lot on his defense, which is totally underrated in the grand scheme of things. But he walks a ton and has good pop for a middle infielder, and has been a great catalyst for the Rays this season.
Miguel Cabrera is having another one of his typical great seasons, despite his power getting sapped a little bit. He’s got a 17% walk rate on the season though, which helps alleviate any fears about his decreased power supply. He doesn’t seem to be getting much of his usual press, though.
How about Jacoby Ellsbury, coming back from numerous injuries last season to become a major force for Boston this season? He’s never had double digit homers in a season before this year, and already has 11. He’s also been a plus defender, and already has 28 steals on the season. His speed combined with his newfound power makes Ellsbury a great breakout candidate for the Red Sox.
Paul Konerko is having a fantastic year in Chicago in the first year of his new contract. But despite his .954 OPS, Konerko gives you belos average defense and the worst baserunning in baseball. But he’s not striking out as much for the White Sox this year, and if the rest of the team’s hitters start to rebound, Konerko’s bat in the middle of the lineup will get some much-needed help.
Justin Verlander won the OC’s AL Cy Young voting by a hair over Jered Weaver, and has been fantastic this year for the Tigers. He’s been worth 4.5 WAR already, and with a second no-hitter under his belt, he’s looking like one of the best young pitchers in the league.
As for the rest of the players to get votes…Asdrubal Cabrera of the surprising Indians is having a lovely first half, and earned a much-deserved All-Star Game start after Derek Jeter didn’t play in the game. Alex Gordon was an All-Star snub, but is finally starting to show some of his potential that has been lying dormant for years. Dustin Pedroia is yet another great player on the best team in the AL. Ian Kinsler is causing havoc for the first-place Rangers as he’s done for years. Jhonny Peralta is having a shockingly good season, and has been one of the best hitters in a strong Tigers lineup. Finally, there’s Weaver, who is having a Cy Young caliber season.
Here’s a recap of the OC midseason awards.
NL Rookie of the Year: Danny Espinosa
AL Rookie of the Year: Michael Pineda
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
NL MVP: Jose Reyes
AL MVP: Jose Bautista
